The staffer, Claude-Eric Gagne, the PMO’s deputy director of operations, has issued a statement that he is on leave because of an “independent investigation regarding allegations” that have come to the PMO’s attention.

“I am taking this situation seriously and I have offered my full and complete co-operation to the investigator who gave me the opportunity to expose my version of the facts to these allegations which I challenge the veracity,” Gagne said in an emailed statement.